The Neepawa MJHL franchise has changed their name to Titans. Titans was one of five names brought to the table for discussion after the organization decided to drop their longtime name and logo. According to Titans Head Coach and General Manager, Ken Pearson, it was a long time coming but something that the organization and Town of Neepawa can now be proud of. “The process has been long and extensive, but for the most part I think a lot of fun for myself and the group that was tasked with the rebrand. The organization is very excited to begin a new era of hockey in Neepawa and surrounding area, creating new history so to speak,” Pearson shared. Photo: MJHL The organization felt it was important to have a great significance tied to the name and logo to properly reflect the community in which they play in. “A Titan is known as one that stands out for greatness of achievement and we feel our community is full of Titans in every facet of life. Neepawa is known as the ‘Land of Plenty’ and feel Neepawa is a Titan in the agriculture, lumber, pork production and brewing industry,” Pearson explained. “Paying homage to these important pillars of our community is an integral part of our rebrand. The logo plays off the Greek mythological definition of Titan,  “One that is gigantic in size or power.” The colors chosen reflects a field of canola on the horizon, the silver and black pay tribute to the classic look of Junior hockey clubs of the 90’s.” “As part of the process,  a group from the Board of Directors, including myself began submitting names to each other. Once we had it down to about 4/5 names we brought those to the rest of the Board members for discussion. Once we had the name we wanted we then moved onto colors and logo design. This included bringing in Brooks Freeman from Brooks Freeman Design to help complete the logos chosen. Brooks and myself spent a few weeks going back and forth and making adjustments until we were able to find the finished product. We also talked with alumni, business leaders in the community, and others to get input,” Pearson concluded.(MJHL Release)

Brandon Wheat Kings Braden Schneider (19) won a gold medal today at the IIHF World Hockey Championships, as Team Canada upset Team Finland in overtime 3-2. Schneider appeared in 207 career WHL regular season games over parts of five seasons (2016-17 - 2020-21) with the Wheat Kings. He has represented Canada on a number of occasions, including this year’s World Junior Championship, where he helped the National Junior team to a silver medal. Recently he was named to the 2020-21 WHL East Division All-Star Team after registering 27 points (5G-22A) in 22 games to finish third in scoring among WHL blueliners. The New York Rangers drafted the talented defensemen in the first round, 19th overall, of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. In March of this year, The 6-2, 210-pound Schneider signed an entry-level contract with the Rangers.

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) Board of Governors announced today that it has granted an expansion franchise to operate in Niverville, MB. The new MJHL member will play its inaugural season from the brand new Niverville Community Resource and Recreation Centre (CRRC) in the 2022-2023 campaign. “Niverville is recognized as one of the fastest growing communities in the province and the MJHL is thrilled to bring a new organization into this community, while adding another first-class, state of the art facility to our League,” said MJHL Commissioner, Kevin Saurette. “We have been in ongoing discussions with this group for a number of years and are very confident that the community owned non-profit organization and the Town of Niverville will provide an ideal new home market for the MJHL going forward. I would also like to recognize the significant commitment and efforts of Clarence Braun who was instrumental in helping bring a new MJHL franchise to the Town of Niverville,” Saurette concluded. Niverville’s Mayor, Myron Dyck shared his excitement in welcoming Junior A Hockey to the growing Town of Niverville. “On behalf of the Town of Niverville I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the MJHL to our community and to congratulate the group of local residents for their hard work in making their dream a reality today. We are excited for this news and wish both the MJHL, local resident Clarence Braun, his management team, and all their supporters much success in the years ahead,” shared Myron Dyck, Mayor of Niverville. Niverville Junior A Hockey Inc. After considering this opportunity for some years, we at Niverville A Junior Hockey Inc. are both excited and proud to be accepted as the newest franchise entry into the MJHL. As we have been exploring entry into the MJHL, we have extended the opportunity for ownership and have seen many new shareholders added within the past few months. That opportunity will continue as we follow a plan to be ready for the 2022-2023 MJHL season. As a shareholder group for this community owned not for profit team, we are excited to be in the community we are in. We are aware of the many young families that have made Niverville their home and the investment that they have made to our community. We look forward to engaging with many hundreds of volunteers in the surrounding area as we put the various leadership teams into place in the weeks and months ahead. We are especially grateful to the Council of the Town of Niverville and administration for their vision in the building of this awesome community recreational space called the CRRC. We are thankful for their support as we move forward and make plans for it to be our hockey home for many years to come. I want to personally express great appreciation to Kim Davis the former commissioner of the MJHL and its present commissioner Kevin Saurette. Kim was their back in our early meeting’s. He was gracious in helping us understand what this opportunity could look like. In the past few years Kevin has been there for us at every turn in his support in representing our cause to the league governors. We are grateful to all the league partners, governors and their representative for having the confidence to welcome us in. We are looking forward to providing a great game experience and a quality hockey product on the ice that will add value to the MJHL as a league. We believe that this initiative will provide another great opportunity for young players in the surrounding area to play Junior A hockey at the highest level. We anticipate our initial website to be functional within a short period of time and will release that info as it becomes available. Stay tuned for further updates and we thank you all. For more additional information please contact Clarence Braun at 204-791-2587 or email at clareb2@shaw.ca. The MJHL looks forward to working with the new management and ownership group along with the Town of Niverville in the days ahead as they begin their journey towards their inaugural 2022-23 season in the MJHL. Please stay tuned for further exciting announcements to come.(MJHL Media Release)

Brandon Wheat Kings Jake Chiasson (61st), Vincent Iorio (71st), Riley Ginnell (191st), Nolan Ritchie (197th), Yaroslav Busygin (34th, international skaters), Ethan Kruger (32 NA goalies) landed on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. In total 57 WHL players were named. Carson Lambos (11th Winnipeg ICE) was the top Manitobans listed among the 57. The 2021 NHL Entry Draft will be held virtually, the first round is scheduled for July 23rd and rounds two through seven will be July 24th. The full lists can be viewed at the links below: Central Scouting North American list Central Scouting International list In other Wheat Kings news, the Arizona Coyotes announced the signing signing of rugged forward Ben McCartney to a three-year entry level contract. McCartney tallied 151 points in 205 regular season games during his tenure with the Wheat Kings. He was the 204th player taken (7th round) in last year's NHL Entry Draft. News: We have signed forward Ben McCartney to a three-year entry-level contract. #Yotes https://t.co/dAvhhhdYMr — Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) May 27, 2021

Trent Miner, who spent time with both the Brandon U15 AAA Wheat Kings and the Brandon U18 AAA Wheat Kings, has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. Following a 2-year stint with the U18 Wheat Kings, Miner joined the WHL's Vancouver Giants. He was drafted in the seventh round (202nd overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Avalanche. Miner split his time this season between the Vancouver Giants (15 games) and the AHL's Colorado Eagles (6 games). The 6-foot-1, 185-pound netminder recorded four shutouts, a 2.16 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in his 15 games with the Giants, this past season. Zach Miner (brother), Dan Averill (step dad), Trent, Danica Averill (sister)